10 Most Favorite Anime Character Ever ( MAL 2021 )

An anime’s popularity hinges on its characters. These are some of the most well received anime characters out there.

As hard as it is to admit, judging an anime is not always about the quality of the writing or animation. More often than not, it brings fans of any age back to the wild tribalism of their middle school lunch room as dominance is decided, not by wit or strength, but by a popularity contest. Which kid had the coolest shoes? Who had a cookie in their Lunchables? Whose dad “works at Nintendo”?

As is constant with the early days of humankind, those who stand at the top are those who are most popular, and this is no different for anime and its characters, where the next casual fan may have their next anime of choice dictated by what they see the most, either in the recommendations of YouTube or on the backpacks and t-shirts of their fellow weebs.

Whether it be the best looking, more intriguing, or most badass character, anime as a medium is one that is often defined by its most popular characters. Whether they perfectly condense all that one loves about a series into a personified form or just absolutely steal the show, anime characters are a performance worth paying for on their own. Bringing things back to the glory days of that middle school lunchroom, this list will be deciding who really is…